Please select your home edition
Edition
A+T Instruments BFD 2024 Leaderboard

How to protect your boat for 183 days: BoatUS offers help for hurricane season

by Scott Croft 27 May 2020 15:11 BST
A reminder from 2017's Hurricane Irma: All that is left of this sailboat is its mast entangled in a goalpost © BoatUS

The 2020 hurricane season starts Monday, June 1, and runs through November 30. That is 183 days your boat could find itself in the crosshairs of one of the 16 predicted named storms.

Taking a few minutes now to begin making your own customized hurricane plan to protect your boat can prevent damage or a total loss. To help, BoatUS Magazine offers a range of short hurricane-planning videos and other resources at BoatUS.com/hurricanes.

The videos include simple projects you can do yourself such as how to make a fender board, how to properly hang boat fenders, and how to set lines for a boat that will remain in the water. Other topics covered include how to choose the best marina for a hurricane and how to prepare your boat. Each are 10 minutes or less and are backed up by a range of free, downloadable hurricane-planning tools available at the BoatUS Hurricane Tracking and Resource Center at BoatUS.com/hurricanes including checklists, tipsheets, and the "BoatUS Magazine Hurricane Planning Guide."

Meant to help trailer boaters as well as those with larger vessels, marinas and boat clubs, the helpful, no-cost BoatUS hurricane preparation information and advice is field-tested. For nearly 40 years, the BoatUS Catastrophe (CAT) Team has been assisting BoatUS Marine Insurance Program policyholders with claims and cleanup after every storm, and they know better than anyone what works—and what doesn't. BoatUS also offers the free BoatUS App that will alert users about incoming storms and more.

Researchers at Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project predict an above-average year for storm activity with eight of the 16 storms expected to reach hurricane strength with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or greater. The absence of El Niño and warmer sea surface temperatures are cited as factors in the forecast.

Related Articles

GP14 Southern Travellers at Frensham
Flag etiquette blunder shocks fleet With a good forecast of 10-17 knots and promise of blue skies the GP14 Southern Travellers travelled to Frensham to join a strong local fleet. This was the first time that Frensham have held a GP14 Open during the summer months. Posted on 17 Jun
The Nations League Swan One Design Worlds day 0
A practice race was held for all classes today The Nations League - Swan One Design Worlds, a regatta organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with ClubSwan Racing, will get under way tomorrow, 18 June, with the first warning signal for racing scheduled for 12 noon. Posted on 17 Jun
Finn World Masters in Medemblik Day 2
Pieter-Jan Postma leads after the second day of racing in The Netherlands Pieter-Jan Postma, from The Netherlands, is leading the fleet of 307 Finns from 27 countries after everyone sailed two more races at the 2025 Finn World Masters in Medemblik. France's Laurent Hay is second with Germany's Fabian Lemmel in third. Posted on 17 Jun
Cape 31 UK National Championships starts soon
Fleet returns to Cowes this weekend The 2025 Cape 31 UK National Championships, presented by Hamble Yacht Services (HYS), kick off this weekend (Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd June) at the prestigious Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes. Posted on 17 Jun
World Sailing launches the World Sailing Academy
A new online learning platform for the global sailing community World Sailing officially launched the World Sailing Academy, an innovative new online learning platform designed to provide comprehensive educational resources and training to sailors, coaches, officials, administrators, and the global sailing community. Posted on 17 Jun
Kestrel Scottish Championship
The Tay dished up two days of contrasting conditions for this year's event The Tay dished up two days of contrasting conditions for this year's event. Saturday dawned with a yellow weather warning for the east of Scotland threatening torrential rain, thunder and lightening all day. Posted on 17 Jun
JOG OneSails Yarmouth Racing Weekend
It's not every weekend that sees sunshine and great sailing June is always a busy month in the Solent with multiple regattas in play so the "passage race", in JOG Yacht Racing style, provided a great opportunity in a good breeze and sunshine to experience a different taste to "round the cans" events. Posted on 17 Jun
Solo class Midlands Area event at Shustoke
Would bringing the event forward a month change their wind fortunes? It had been 11 months since the last Solo class open meeting at Shustoke SC which saw very light and at times non existent wind. Would bringing the event forward a month change our wind fortunes? Posted on 17 Jun
Amateur Boating Photographer Competition Opens
Stoneways Marine Insurance exciting to announce the theme as being 'Joy on the water' Stoneways Marine Insurance are excited to open their annual photography competition with this year's theme being 'Joy on the water'. The judges would like to see what brings you happiness on the water - it's a free pass to let your creativity run wild. Posted on 17 Jun
RS Aero Open at Broadwater Sailiong Club
The keen local RS Aero fleet fielded helms Sunshine and a good strong breeze provided excellent conditions for the sixteen boats competing in Broadwater's novel pursuit race format RS Aero Open. Posted on 17 Jun